Not even a single Bullet can be imported haaa? Joojeh basiji?
Read how great and well working this american designed embargo is
- Iran retains strong relations with Pakistan and is working on a “peace pipe” that would transfer natural gas between Iran, Pakistan and India.
- Iran is the United Arab Emirates’ largest non-oil trading partner.
- Oman and Bahrain have been negotiating with Iran to buy natural gas.
-Smugglers in Oman have taken advantage of their close proximity to Iran and have been able to ship needed cargo and goods to Iran, helping the
- Islamic regime obtain goods that have been sanctioned for sale from the west.
- The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council decided to consider a Free Trade Agreement with Iran. The agreement will lead to economic benefits for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
- Austria's third-largest bank, Raiffeisen Zentralbank, remains active in Iran and has absorbed the transactions of other major European banks that shut down their operations in Iran.
- German engineering firm Aerzen secured a 21 million euro contract to supply a steel factory in Esfaham, Iran.
Treasure Capital Bank, based in Minsk, Belarus, is the subsidiary of Bank Tejerat in Iran, sanctioned by the United States in January 2012.
- In November 2011, the EU was shown to account for nearly 20% of all Iranian oil purchases in the first half of 2011, which helped to nullify the effects of any sanctions imposed against the Islamic regime. Italy, Spain and France were the leading purchasers of Iranian oil in 2011.
- In August 2011, Iran received 1 billion euros ($ 1.4 billion) from India for overdue oil debts. Indian refiners expect Iran to resume 400,000 barrels a day of oil exports in September 2011, since India began paying its debt that Iran Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani said amounted to $4.8 billion.
- A January 2011 examination of German government trade statistics revealed that German export trade to Iran increased from $4,159,920,000 between January and October 2009 to $4,175,687,000 during the same time period in 2010. Iranian imports to Germany climbed to $909,176 between January and October 2010 when compared to $574,261 during the identical time frame in 2009.
- At the start of 2011, Iran was the second largest OPEC exporter, after Saudi Arabia, and during January - November 2010 generated revenues of $64 billion, an $11 billion increase over the full-year 2009 figure. Iran has also been chosen by OPEC members for the cartel's 2011 presidency.
- Swiss energy giant EGL signed a 25-year deal with the National Iranian Gas Export Company to buy 5.5 billion cubic meters of Iranian natural gas per year, starting in 2011, for approximately $20 billion.
- The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published a study confirming that the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) has renamed nearly a quarter of its shipping fleet (90 out 123 vessels) in order to evade international sanctions. Additionally, the company has reflagged many of its ships so that shippers and maritime security agencies do not know they are moving Iranian vessels. Additionally, SIPRI noted that Iranian weapons smugglers are using respectable shipping companies out of Europe to move illegal weapons into Iran; though this was mostly done without the consent or knowledge of the companies.
- India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, said it would not take steps to cut oil and petroleum imports from Iran despite the US and European sanctions. "It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them," Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
LOOOL- The United States granted exemptions to Japan and ten European countries from the sanctions passed by President Obama that called for punitive measures to be taken against any country that continued doing business with Iran. These eleven nations were given breathing room on the sanctions because they showed a significant reduction in their imports of Iranian oil, however by granting the exemptions the U.S. has underscored the difficulty in fully implementing any santions meant to freeze the Iranian economy and force them to abandon their nuclear program.
- Switzerland decided against sanctioning Iran's central bank or imposing an embargo on Iranian oil, failing to follow in the footsteps of the EU. The Swiss Economics Committee said that the country would not follow the EU in freezing the assets of the Iranian central bank "due to its importance for the Iranian economy." While Switzerland does not directly import Iranian oil, the Swiss position could impact the activities of oil companies based in the trading hub of Geneva.
- A survey of Iran's shipping fleet showed that only seven of its 25 very large crude carriers were operating on-board transponders, which allow computers to track vessels. Going "off-radar," Iran is showing another way it is developed to sidestep international sanctions against the regime. Ships are obliged by international law to have a satellite tracking device on board when travelling at sea, but with them turned off it is increasingly difficult to gauge how much is moving out of the country's main terminal at Kharg Island.
- An intelligence report released by an independent energy policy group showed that Greece could become the achilles heal to EU efforts to cut out all Iranian oil imports. Over the past two years, Greece's oil imports from Iran have spiked to just under 200,000 barrels per day and Iran's share of Greece's crude imports has more than doubled (26% to 53%) as other countries have shied away from the economically unstable Greece. The intelligence report also noted that Spain and Italy, two other EU member nations, have become increasingly dependent on Iranian oil imports. These three countries consume nearly 90% of Iran's total oil exports to the European mainland, a factor that could eventually lead to the failure of EU sanctions.
- The United Kingdom was said to be persuading EU countries to delay implementation of sanctions against companies providing insurance to tankers carrying oil from Iran. Britain fears that the ban on insurance could lead to a dramatic spike in oil prices which would significantly damage the already weak European economy. The EU ban, meant to take effect July 1, would prevent European insurers from covering ships carrying Iranian crude anywhere in the world in an effort to stem the influx of money to Iran and thus force it to halt it nuclear program. "Britain will be pushing the EU to postpone the ban on protection and indemnity insurance by six month," said one diplomatic source.
- An Oxfam report and data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed that Iran has imported over £350 million worth of weapons over the past three years, despite being subject to international sanctions. The country's success in " in tapping the international arms market showed the ineffectiveness of current restrictions." The UN Security Council, back in 2007, had requested countries to "exercise restraint" in supplying arms to Iran.
- An Israeli legal organization warned British satellite company Immarsat that it would pursue legal action against the company if it continued to provide guidance systems to Iranian commerical and military vehicles. According to the Shurat HaDin, the Ramat Gan-based legal group, Immarsat continues to provide critical services to Iran despite sanctions on such business imposed by the United States and European Union. A letter to Immarsat stated that Shurat HaDin wrote told the company to stop providing mobile satellites or risk “civil liability from American citizens or others who suffer as a result of Iran’s international sponsorship of terrorism.”
- The United States imposes additional sanctions on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation networks, aiming to prevent the Islamic Republic from evading the effects of sanctions by targeting individuals, companies, and banks that do businesss with Iran. The Treasury and State Departments designated 11 entities and 4 individuals as part of a network of proliferators headed by Iran’s Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and its subsidiary, Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO). The new sanctions also publicly exposed numerous front companies, ships and banks that work for the government of Iran.
- A list released of German companies conducting bilateral trade with Iran, including the selling of "dual-use" products, shows that trade continued unabate between the two countries until at least the end of calendar year 2011. Merchandize that can be used for military and civilian purposes falls under the rubric of “dual-use” goods. Germany is part of the P5+1 who have been making efforts to sanction the Islamic Republic, however Germany’s Federal Statistical Office said that bilateral trade with Iran in 2011 totaled nearly 4 billion Euros.
LOOOOL- The United States extended exemptions from sanctions on business with Iran to Japan and 10 European countries because they have significantly reduced their purchases of petroleum from the Islamic Republic. The US originally granted these 11 nations exemptions from sanctions in March 2012 as a way of forcing them to reduce their reliance on Iranian oil. The new extensions will enable banks in Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Frnace, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Japan to continue working with Iran without facing penalties for at least another 180 days.
- In spite of the European Union's inclusion of Iran on its sanctions list, the German Academic Exchange Service (or Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, i.e. DAAD) signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran's Science, Research, and Technology ministry. DAAD acts with the approval of Germany's Foreign Ministry, so this latest development seems to indicate an uneven policy from Berlin vis-a-vis Iran's nuclear program.